The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1887-08-14
BUILT TO BEAT THE THISTLE"
Description OF the New Steel Yacht
Volunteer"

Volunteer"
The new steel yacht Volunteer was
built for General Charles j. Paine by the
Pusey d James company at Wilmington,
Del. She was designed by Burgess. who
also drew the plans for the MdlUiolCer
and Puritan. She is the biggest singie-
sticker afloat, being 107 feet over all,
though her length on water line is only
sc feet.
The most striking features of the boat
as seen in broadside view are her great
depth aft, her long, keen sharply dimin-
ishing forefoot, the cutter-Iike rake of her
sternpost, her lengthy, angular oyerhang
and her sharp sheer fore and aft. There
! is much sharper angle between the tip
of her forefoot and the lowest line of her
keel than is seen in any of the other
boats. In this point of construction she
is more like the Atlantic than either the
MdyffOacer or Puritan, but it is an ex-
aggeration of the Atlantic idea. This is
an important differentiation, as il throws
| the center of gravity further aft than it
is in any of the other yachts, and ought
to have the effect of lifting her head bet
ter in cutting through heavy seas. Her
sternpost also has much more rake than
that of any of the sloops. In fact she has
II 6il Tue Idkc VI Iuc CulL6T. vi tQ6 OLQcT
sloops the Mdyf0lcer approaches nearest
to her in this respect.
/ Her vertical bow-lines are q still more
radical departure from the type Of the
Puritan and MdyfOl0er. The Atldnt-
ic's bow-Eines are called straight, but the
new yachts lines are straighter. As a
matter of fact, they are, IL is said, slight
ly concave, but the concayity does not
amount to half an inch in ten feet. To
the eve the lines have the rigid straight
ness of the V. Abaft the shoulders, how
ever, she has more ooncayity than any of
the other yachts. But the inward curve
begins away down below the water line.
The effect of this method of construction,
which is wide departure from existing
types, is threefold. 1t affords great beam
at and for several feet below the water
lime, reduces the aggregate of displace-
ment and places the ballast-carrying
area much further down than il has ever
been put before in the sloop or beamy
type of boat. The result is a great in
crease of stability, which means more
sail-carrying power and an acceleration
of speed from this fact as well as from
the economy of displacement.
The steel construction of the pOlIln-
teer admits of slowing the ballast lower
than would be possible were she built of
wood. She has keel as wide as the
MdytlOlUer's and it is made into hollow
trough, into which the lead has been run,
thus insuring its reaching the lowest
point in the vessel. In building of steel
the great oak timbers which are used to
form the keel can be done away with and
their places filled by the heavier lead
and the ballast gets better leverage by
means of its low position. For this res-
Icon the new sloop has more sail-carrying
power than the Mdgfoloer. As conse-
Iquence her spars show an increase all
round over those of the Mdyfoicer. The
new sticks are of Oregon pine through
out. Even the topmast is made of this
heavy but strong wood. This is some
what of a departure from ordinary Gus
tom, as the lofty topmasts have usually
been made Of spruce. The spars are all
splendid sticks, containing few knots,
and those of diminutive size.
The mainmRst has an extreme length
of sc feet, with diameter Of 19 inches at
the deck, IS at the hounds and 191< at
about half the distance up, the spar being
slightly "barrel- shaped" The mainboom
is 81 feet long, having a diameter of II
inches in the middle and 134 inches in
the slings. The gaff is 80 feet long, being
the only spar which is not longer than
the corresponding one in the Mduf0Iper.
The bowsprit is IS feet long, and its
igreatest diameter is Is inches. The top
mast is 48 feet long, and has diameter
of 9Z inches at the cap
/ While the Volunteer is seven feet
longer than the MaAfOlrer over all, she
is only one foot longer on the water line
she has three inches less beam, six inches
more draught, and carries twenty-five
tons more ballast. Strictly speaking, she
4 Ill -
is below her keel, but her keel consists OF
steel plates three-quarters of an inch
thick, curved upward into q trough-hke
shape, and into that fifty tons of melted
Head was poured. Besides that she carries
Twenty tons of pig lead as movable bal.
last to regulate her trim. Her center
board is 20x22 feet, and as il will have 9
drop of about twenty feet the yacht will
draw about thirty feet with it down.
/ The frames are made of strips of steel
ifve-sixteenths of an inch thick, are angu-
lar in form, measure 3 by 2K inches, and
are placed at the distance of twenty-one
inches from center to center. The re-
verse frames measure ~ py 2H inches
and are Of quarter-inch metal. The
lplates, like the frames, are of steel. They
various streaks to which they belong
Thus those belonging to the Iarboard
streaks are half an inch thick; those OF
the streak next above, fve-sixteenths
those of the third streak, which is imme
diately below the water line, four-six
teenths; and those Of the sheer streak
which is above the water line, fve-six
teenths. The plates are put on flush, and
the interstices are made water-tight by
a process called calking, from analogy
but which is simply hammering the meta
until the edges come firmly together
For this work q peculiar tool is used
with an edge like a dull cold-chisel. The
bolts are, of course, ell counter sunk, and
their heads are trimmed of with a colo
ehisel to give the yacht perfectly
smooth skin. All the light her cabins
will get will be from the deck, she havinl
no portfolios like the Galated. Her decks
are of white pine. 21< inches by 3 inches
and her bulwarks are also of white pine
stained. She is painted white above tn,
water line and red below, and has n,
handrail to speak Of.
Her exact dimensions are as follows:
Feet
Length over all. .l07
Length on water line. S..